Calling the Zion Williams era for the New Orleans Pelicans a flop would be like calling Stephen Curry an okay shooter. It doesn't do the situation justice at all. What's interesting is that both the Pels and the Sacramento Kings are looking for fresh starts, and that begins with a Domantas Sabonis trade.
When the Pelicans drafted Williamson in 2019, expectations were through the roof. He had already become a legendary baller throughout high school and into his relatively short college run at Duke. That's why the Pels used their number one draft pick on him, to the shock of no one.
At the same time, those same people who weren't shocked by that pick were likely shocked by how badly Williamson's career has gone so far. He has had constant conditioning issues which have turned into injury issues. The numbers show just how staggering this problem is.
In seven seasons, Williamson has played in 224 regular seasons while missing 250. That means he's been sidelined for 56% of his professional career so far. The Williamson era in New Orleans has to come to an end. Sactown might be able to help with that by trading Sabonis for Williamson.
Williamson may do better in Sacramento than New Orleans
Sacramento is about as ready for their Sabonis era to end as New Orleans is for the Williamson era to shut down. Both players have two years left on their respective contracts which are both worth roughly the same amount of money. A straight trade of the two almost superstars might be possible.
Unfortunately, this doesn't get the Kings a break from their payroll issues, which they desperately need to facilitate this rebuild process. They need breathing room to work in. That being said, a power forward like Williamson still has the potential to do great things in the right environment.
Sacramento is a low-media pressure market with elite performance leadership and dedicated culinary support. This would all help his conditioning, making him less injury-prone. Plus, the food culture in Sacramento is much different from New Orleans, removing certain temptations.
Plus, the youth movement on the KIngs would force Williamson to improve his game to keep up. If that all falls into place, Sacramento could provide him with the environment to finally excel and reach his full potential. Because when he actually gets on the court, Williamson can still really go.
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